


All's Well That Inks Well

by Kawaii_Robo



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, M/M, for Meg, tattoo artist!derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-01-08
Packaged: 2018-01-08 00:31:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1126227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kawaii_Robo/pseuds/Kawaii_Robo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So lay it on me.” He leans closer. (Derek swallows; good god, this guy is covered in moles. It’s mesmerizing.) “What do I need to know to make sure my friend ends up doing something stupid?”</p><p>Or the one where Derek is a tattoo artist and Stiles is taking his status as Scott's BFF very seriously. Research must be done and by God Derek is going to give it to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All's Well That Inks Well

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rustywrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rustywrites/gifts).



The guy is obviously nervous. Derek doesn’t have to listen to his heartbeat to know it; the fidgeting gives it away already. It’s not something new he’s seeing, either; plenty of people come in not knowing what they want, or because of a stupid dare, or worse: drunk. He is really glad they usually come in when he’s the one at the front desk, though it does tend to take away time that he uses to sketch. But one of the times a drunken asshole and his equally drunk enablers have stumbled in, he was thankful for his werewolf strength and the fact that flashing some fang had gotten rid of them right quick.

Derek follows the guy’s twitching movements around the room. He watches him walk straight towards the shelves holding the folders full of tattoo designs and pick out the black work and minimalist designs with a sure grip. That makes him blink. Seems like he was wrong about the guy after all, he seems to know what he’s doing, always moving limbs aside.

His thought process is interrupted when Erika makes her grand entrance with a casual “Hi Stiles!” thrown over her shoulder at the guy by the shelves. The guy (Stiles. What kind of name is that?) only jiggles his arm distractedly in a gesture that could be interpreted as a wave or something decidedly more rude, without even looking up. It earns him a laugh from Erika.

Derek on the other hand can’t help but be impressed. Erika is a handful (and he is glad she isn’t here for him) and even Boyd, with his calm presence and no-nonsense attitude can only really reign her in when she’s sitting in the chair in the back, having her watercolor rose garden on her back touched up. But secretly she comes in to flirt with Boyd (Not so secretly everyone but Boyd is aware of this [There is a betting pool on them. Bets start 20 bucks. NO, Derek is not the bookie. Stop asking.].)

So he nods at Erika as she saunters past him toward the back, and focuses on Stiles. Who had apparently decided that foregoing the chairs for hunching over and curling himself over the folders was the way to go.

“We have chairs right over there”, he helpfully points out and immediately winces at his gruff tone. Good job Derek, customer interaction pro strategies.

His suggestion is met with a flail of epic proportions: the folders slip from hands that suddenly want to go everywhere, and someone must have poured a bucket of soap water over the floor with how fast the guy slips and falls on his ass. Derek feels his entire body go stiff with terror as he watches it unfold in front of him.

There is a stunned moment of silence before Stiles meets Derek’s eyes and his entire face lights up with inexplicable joy at the sight of him. It is confusing and Derek can’t help but feel completely lost as the guy scrambles up to meet him at the desk.

“Man, I didn’t even think about asking you for help. So hi, I’m Stiles”, he starts gesticulating at himself and then at the folder he plonked down on the desk, apparently deciding to completely ignore his crash (like it’s something that happens all the time), “and my BFF Scottie wants a tattoo but he is going about it absolutely clueless about the entire thing, bless his face and crooked jawline.”

“So lay it on me.” He leans closer. (Derek swallows; good god, this guy is covered in moles. It’s mesmerizing.) “What do I need to know to make sure my friend ends up doing something stupid?”

Derek will later thank every Deity he can think of for letting him basically talk his way through that conversation in a kind of trance without fucking up like usual. Stiles is a whirlwind, seemingly unconcerned about what people think of him and taking Derek’s carefully constructed castle made out of low-current hostility by storm without even trying.

They end up dating after Stiles faints in his arms when he’s about to ink Scott. Derek freaks out hard enough to blurt out his feelings as Stiles conveniently resurfaces and they have to reschedule Scott’s ink job because he flees the room when they get all mushy at each other.

When it turns out Scott is a werewolf Derek ends up facepalming so hard it leaves an imprint on his forehead for several seconds. He can’t believe he was so distracted by Stiles’ presence he didn’t even notice another werewolf enter the shop, _what the hell_?

Stiles can’t believe he forgot to tell him that particular fact and he tells him so. Loudly. And repeatedly. “I knew you were a werewolf, okay, your sister is in our class and she has like the same Hale-patented judgmental eyebrows, I can’t believe I forgot to tell you, it was the reason I talked to you, oh my god I’m supposed to be the smart one in this relationship.” Coincidentally, this happens while Derek is finishing up Scott’s tattoo. When he points it out to Stiles later, he goes “huh” and gets a look of wonderment on his face before it is replaced by a calculating glint in his eye.

(On their first anniversary Stiles surprises Derek by making him tattoo constellations on his back using his moles. Derek maybe cries a bit. Scott makes gagging noises. Erika laughs.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also laughing and crying because oh my gosh I haven't written something that is longer than 50 words in quite some time.  
> I blame Meg (thank you Meg!) and all her wonderful ideas on tumblr. This one's for you.
> 
> I kinda wanna write more for this AU but damn I feel like I've run a marathon. I'm way out of shape.


End file.
